[December 08, 2012]SPRINGFIELD -- The Civil War's
terrible Battle of Fredericksburg resulted in thousands of Americans
killed in a clash filled with tragic moments. A presentation on that
battle will be made at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and
Museum on Thursday at 7 p.m., using maps, pictures and the soldiers'
own words to help illustrate the story.

Fredericksburg was the battle that inspired Robert E. Lee to
declare: "It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too
fond of it." It saw a Confederate soldier risk his life to take
water to wounded opponents, earning him the nickname "Angel of
Marye's Heights." Fredericksburg included America's first major
river-crossing by troops under fire and the first urban combat of
the Civil War.

The presentation takes place in the museum's Union Theater and is
part of Illinois' observance of the 150th anniversary of the Civil
War. The battle occurred on Dec. 13, 1862.

Dr. Mark DePue, historian with the Lincoln Presidential Library
and Museum, will discuss the battle in a PowerPoint presentation,
using quotes from Civil War veterans, maps, photographs and
illustrations. Dr. Jack Navins, a physician and volunteer at the
museum, will also briefly discuss Union medical practices at
Fredericksburg. A question-and-answer session will follow.

The program is free and open to the public, but advance
reservations are requested and can be made by calling 217 558-8934.

The museum's Illinois Gallery, featuring the temporary exhibit
"To Kill and to Heal: Weapons and Medicine of the Civil War," will
be open for public viewing that evening from 6 to 7.

Other Civil War Sesquicentennial military history programs are
scheduled at the presidential museum through 2015. The battles of
Chancellorsville, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga and Chattanooga
will be featured in 2013; presentations on the Wilderness and
Spotsylvania, Kennesaw Mountain and Atlanta, and the siege of
Petersburg will occur in 2014; and the pursuit to Appomattox and
Lee's surrender wrap up the series in 2015.

For more information about the presidential library's "Boys in
Blue" exhibit, the Civil War exhibit "To Kill and to Heal" at the
presidential museum, and other events at the ALPLM, visit
www.presidentlincoln.org.